The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1887-06-09

company insisted that it was not safe to
20 alone, ne two left in company.
We arrived at the gate in our usual ap-
parently drunken condition, feed the guard
literally, and passed through. A few min
sutesslater we returned and had our cigars
and lanterns lighted, pretending that the
latter had been put out accid dentally. They
were SO ready In assisting us that we
gave them another handful Of piasters, and
made them understand not to allow any
one to fo..GW u.s.; They earnestly promised
and we started again, our hearts almost
bursting with rapid pulsation. We found
the cord; /; purse was at the end Of 1t. So
far all was safe. ~ 6 =:
IS Running to. the farther gate: as quickly
.as possible, we repeated our former STRAIT
segy OF bribes, and the guards promised us
that while we were in the street nobody
should pass them. Thus We had the field
Ito ourselves, with guards on either hand
to protect us from interference. :.
ereturned to the spot where the purse
|slay. It was readily discovered by reason
of its rillancy, being worked in gold and
silver threads. A stout cord was attached
to 1t. We pulled gently upon the cord
and drew down ladder made Of silk.
The nightWas dark, not a star visible.
Thus far every thing favored us. i We put
q strain upon tho; ladder Wfthsboth our
weights to keep 1t from swaying, when
suddenly ne felt o heavy burden upon it,
and IN an Instant q man In white tunic
sprang from the ladder and seized me by
both arr rs, mutterfng sEomething I could
mot understand. Letting 60 his iron grip
upon me, he took the captain in the same
manner: Then he sprang up the ladder
sand disapp peared. ..lti
We were SO taken by surprise that we
could not have defended ourselves If occa-
sion had requiredit. Treachery or not we
did not know, but we stood at our post.
Presently ne felt by the strain on the rope
that some one was again descending.
/ This time It was the lady herself. She
sprang lightly tothe ground, and moment
later came the man who had before de-
scended. He was her faithful slave. He
fell on his knees and begged to be taken
with u.s. But this was impossible. He
was to be relieved by another guard at 4
/ O'Clock, and his absence would have
caused the discovery of the escape. She
advised him to return, close the window,
s. and let go the rope. She would not be
missed until noon, when it would be inn
possible to know during whose watch she
made her escape. It might be suppNed
she had committed suicide, as she had
frequently threatened to do, and might
have done, by, throwing herself into the
Bosphorous through q trap In the floor OF
4 boat house near by.
. She did not speak nor eyince any terror,
but trusted us entirely. As we heard
footsteps rapidly approaching, and feared
pursuit or q meeting with street maraud-
ers, we lost no time in reaching the gate.
The guard opened 1t Immediately. The
word American had charm for them,
especially as itwas followed bya handful
sof piasters thrown at them when the gate
was opened. Ipresume they imagined we
did it in our drunken fun, but it was
really to draw their attention from our
companion. After we had passed through
I locked the gate and threw away the key.
The guards were too. busy picking up the
money to- heed q laundering at the gate
after VIC had gone on. We did not reach
our boats too soon, for we could hear mutt
tering voices and tramping feet close be-
hind us. With muff1ed OURS we pulled
for my friends brig. We had proceeded
not more than fifty yards from the-shore
when we heard our pursuers jumping into
boats ut the landing. Who they were we
could not tell, but they had not the Gus
tomary lights with them to indicate that
they were honest citizens. The extreme
{ darkness favored our fight among the
many vessels anchored In the harbor, most
( Of which had their anchor lights up. My
friends vessel had two lights In the main
rigging as private signal. These were
put out as soon as we reached the deck.
Entering the cabin we again saw the
face of the lady. As have before said,
she was the most beautiful woman had
+ ever seen. I could not help feeling that
my friend was not the, handsome fellow
that deserved to be united to such lowell
ness-yet the gods mated Venus and
Vulcan. The Swedish captain was speech
less with admiration. acted as his
ambassador, and informed her how des-
perately in love he was, and that he was
determined to save her or lose his life in
the attempt. She was now free to act
for herself, but was sure that If she
married him she would have q loving
husband. AS I had been concerned in
her rescue from captivity felt it my
right as well rs my duty to urge her to
accept him. She did not utter word,
but remained perfectly passive. ad-
vised him to leave tho cabin and get his
ship under way at once. My boats crew
would assist him. The vessel must be
outside the harbor, I said, before day
light, and before sunrise be well into the
Sea of Marmora. And SO we parted.
1t was three o'clock when reached my
ship. Sleep was out of the question.
The events Of the previous few days were
like dream out Of which had just
awakened. The consequences might have
been serious to me. But was always
ready for adventures, and had been in
many a predicament equally hazardous.
lived, as all young sailors live, on ro-
nance and daring. The excitement OF
this occasion was as eXhilarating to me
rs champagne is to the wine bibber.
In the morning was visited by several
of the captains who had been my guests Of
the night before. They had felt some
fear for our safety when they learned that
a conflict had taken place between the
guard in the street we passed through and
o band Of Greek robbers. Two of the
robbers had been killed. These must
have been our pursuers, who, after we
/ had eluded them, had returned and AT
tackled the guard. They were over,
powered by a company of soldiers from
the fort, who were making their rounds
to relieve the guard. Of course / knew
|, nothing of what had become OF the
Swedish captain. assured them that he
/ went safely on board and was to have
sailed at sunrise, and that, as the wind
was fresh and sair, supposed he was of.
1 feigned attack Of rheumatism as an cx'
cuse for not going ashore that day. The
following day our consul, hearing I was
sick, came OH board. From him learned
one of the wives Of n pasha of tho army
had made her escape by the aid, it was
supposed, of the Greek robbers, some Of
whom had been captured and would be
executed unless they told whero theil
companions and the captive were to be
found It was supposed that she was
held for a ransom. a rigid search was